Clips From i-D No. 298 / Telepathe

The "Pain And Pleasure Issue" featuring Miuccia Prada, April 2009.

TELEPATHE are a noisy pop duo making future, sex, love sounds.

TELEPATHE are a cross between Gang Gang Dance and Chromatics, with a bit of Luscious Jackson thrown in for good measure. Their tribal beats satisfy sonic cravings for something left of centre, and the sound is a whirlwind of electrifying ambiance replete with hammering machine beats and haunting drug-induced melodies fit for late nights in underground places.

"We're just too crazy for anyone else," laughs Melissa Livaudais when asked why Telepathe consists of only herself and fellow bandmate, Busy Gangnes. With roots embedded in Brooklyn's do-it-yourself indie music scene, the two musicians respectively played guitar and drums in multiple different noise bands before setting out on their own, and the combination is proving to be a perfect fit.

Livaudais and Gangnes' infectious tunes have already stirred up a massive buzz in the US and beyond, allowing the band to open for The Kills and Diplo, as well as playing shows throughout Europe and Australia. Through a collaborative process of give and take, Livaudais and Gangnes build cascading layers of syncopated beats, delirious looped vocals and woozy synths. And more often than not, their trials result in heart-thumping anthems of electronic bliss: i.e, their killer single, "Chrome's On It."

"Our first big break was soon after we put "Chrome's On It" up on our MySpace page," says Livaudais. "We received so much positive feedback, and it really just snowballed from there." It didn't take long for the duo to snag the attention of multiple labels, as well as TV On The Radio's Dave Sitek, who produced their upcoming full-length, Dance Mother, released earlier this year.

On making the record, Livaudais comments, "We really wanted to push it and make music that didn't sound like anything else, but still sounded like everything that we love at the same time." As for the band's musical influences? "We really like everything," says Livaudais. "We listen to a lot of rap, we like Lil Wayne, Cash Money, Cocteau Twins... lately Busy and I have been listening to a lot of Iraqi pop music too." Carolyn Brennan

myspace.com/telepathe

Handsome Furs, Face Control (Sub Pop)
Wolf Parade's Dan Boeckner and his wife Alexei Perry managed to take their hands off each other just long enough to complete their sophomore record, an experimental electro fantasy influenced by the starkness of the Eastern Bloc and the politics of control. CB

The Decemberists - Hazards of Love (Capitol/Kill Rock Stars)
Inspired by vocalist Anne Brigg's 1966 EP of the same name, the Portland-based quintet present a riveting concept record about - you guessed it - the hazards of love. Featuring guest vocals by Lavender Diamond's Becky Stark and My Brightest Diamond's Shara Worden among others, this album is indie rock at its finest. CB

Music Reviews From i-D No. 297

March 2009, "The Best of Britain" Issue, featuring Kate Moss, Yasmin Le Bon, Stella Tennant, Naomi Campbell, Lily Donaldson, Jourdann Dunn, Agyness Deyn, Daisy Lowe, Eliza Cummings, Twiggy, Susie Bick and Alice Dellal.

MSTRKRFT Fist of God (Modular)
Jesse Keeler and Al-P have fine-tuned their electro craft into a dance floor force to be reckoned with. Featuring the live set favorite, "VUVUVU," the Fist of God LP will keep the club kids partying hard and fast from dusk 'til dawn.

Dan Deacon, Bromst (Carpark)
The classically-trained composer continues his reign of manipulated bleeps and blips; Deacon's Bromst is a sonic blender of electro-acoustic ecstasy infused with trippy tribal beats and vocal experimentation.

Bonnie Prince Billy Beware (Domino/Drag City)
Will Oldam doesn't seem to be letting up any time soon-- the delicate folk genius' new record features a lengthy guest list including Rob Mazurek and Nicole Mitchell of Exploding Star Orchestra and ex-Wilco member Leroy Bach.

Clips From i-D No. 291

The "To Die For" September 2008 issue featuring Jordan Dunn.

ART

COLLIER SCHORR curates Freeway Balconies, an exhibition entwining film and photography, with performance art and sculpture.
Text Carolyn Brennan
Photography Collier Schorr

Celebrated photographer and i-D contributor Collier Schorr questions America's cultural obsession with celebrity and spectacle in her latest exhibition Freeway Balconies, named in homage of the beat generation's poet laureate Allen Ginsberg. "After reading Allen Ginsberg's poem Fall Of America I had a fantasy," Collier confesses. "Ginsberg is at a gas station in the south and picks up a stranded traveller who thinks he is part of the Black Panther movement, but actually, he is an actor hoping to get to Hollywood. I guess that conflation of identity is at the heart of the exhibition."

In addition to photography, the exhibition will feature a mix of sculpture, installation and video art by nineteen emerging and established art talents, including Bruce Nauman,Yvonne Rainer, Adrian Piper, Richard Prince and Aki Sasamoto amongst others, offering an intimate glimpse into the private lives of those untouchable deities and luminary eccentrics whose status we have elevated above our own.

See Shinique Smith's adoring fan mail to actor Johnny Depp, Sara Gilbert's photos of Leonardo DiCaprio on the cusp of stardom, Matt Saunders' video study of idol worship and Schorr's own seductive photography study that includes an unexpected photo of Brooke Shields sprawled vulnerably across the carpet.

When asked which is her favorite piece Collier pauses, "If I had to choose, it wouldn't be once piece. I think it would have to be the cover photo from the catalague, which the museum made into a T-shirt. It's me in the early '90s sitting on a motorcycle and failing to look like Marlon Brando. Only now do I realise that everyone is cute when they are young." Entertainment weeklies may claim the stars are 'just like us!' but Schorr's exhibit proves our voyeuristic nature for all things star-studded is far from over.

deutsche-guggenheim-berlin.de

ART

GOTHIC: DARK GLAMOUR, FIT Museum, New York
An ode to all things vampy and dramatic, Dark Glamour showcases more than 75 gothic inspired designs by fashion's most beloved enfant terribles. See designs by the likes of Alexander McQueen, John Galliano, Rick Owens, Gareth Pugh, Anne Demeulemeester, Anna Sui, Olivier Theyskens, Ricardo Tischi, Jun Takahashi, and Yohji Yamamoto theatrically displayed in labyrinths, laboratories and haunted palaces. The exhibition will also explore the old-school goths of the '80s and the Japanese fixation with Gothic Lolitas. CB

ASSUME VIVID ASTRO FOCUS: Absolutely Venomous Accurately Fallacious (Naturally Delicious), Deitch Studios, New York
Assume Vivid Astro Focus has pieced together a wreckage-filled wonderland exploding with neon sculpture, majestic murals and jagged, crumbling installation inspired by New York construction sites. Though the opening night's Demolition Disco has passed, hightail it to this helter-skelter exhibit before it closes. It's sheer and utter chaos on a wonderful scale. CB

CONSTRACTION, Deitch Projects, New York
A follow-up to Nicola Vassell's Substraction, Constraction - curated by i-D contributor Kathy Grayson - seeks to overwhelm the eyes with conceptual patterns of abstraction, showcasing a maze-like tile floor by Tauba Auerbach alongside large-scale paintings and sculptures by the likes of Joe Bradley, Peter Coffin, Xylor Jane, Mitzi Pederson and Ara Peterson. CB

MUSIC

ONEIDA, Preteen Weaponry (Jagjaguwar)
Making music together for more than a decade, these avant-garde Brooklyn noise rockers present a record full of distorted build-up layered with churning guitars and atmospheric fuzz. As the first part of a psychedelic triptych entitled Thank Your Parents, Preteen Weaponry consists of three ten minute-plus tracks of experimental (and mostly instrumental) rock that might just eat you alive. CB

BRAZILIAN GIRLS, New York City (Verve Forecast)
The Brazilian Girls (who are neither Brazilian nor all-girls) have stirred up sexy third course of quirky electro bossa nova for those who just want to have a good time, all the time. With infectious beats and melodies paired with the seductive purring of Sabina Sciubba in multiple languages, the Girls have crafted a fitting ode to the city that never sleeps. CB

BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE PRESENTS: BRENDAN CANNING, Something For All of Us (Arts & Crafts)
With the mighty Broken Social Scene to back him up, Brendan Canning can pretty much do no wrong on his debut solo release. Featuring guest appearances by Kevin Drew, Justin Peroff, Metric's James Shaw, Stars' Amy Milan, Apostle of Hustle's Lisa Lobsinger and much more, this gorgeous piece of indie rock warrants plenty of play on your stereo. CB

Clips From i-D No. 290

August 2008, "The Artisan Issue" featuring Naomi Campbell and Stefano Pilati.

PRINT

NO WAVE: POST PUNK. UNDERGROUND. NEW YORK 1976-1980 (Abrams Image)
Who better to document the late '70s experimental art punk movement than Sonic Youth's wild child Thurston Moore and respected rock journalist Byron Coley? These two music fiends have compiled a book of striking live photos and personal interviews with No Wave's finest forbearers, including James Chance, Glenn Branca and Brian Eno. CB

USELESS MAGAZINE
Each issue of this independent bi-annual New York culture and art magazine is packed with revealing interviews, well-versed essays and edgy photography. Issue seven, A Star-Shaped Enterprise, features actor Brendan Sexton photographed by Marcelo Krasilcic, the apocalyptic musings of Agathe Snow and much more enlightenment.

ART

LIKE IT A LITTLE, V&A Gallery, New York
Featuring the contemporary figurative works of Natalie Frank, Selma Hafizovic, Jocelyn Hobbie and i-D art writer Kathy Grayson, V&A's Stateside exhibit aims to draw out the mixed emotions of its viewers. Between Hobbie's aloofly lounging ladies and Grayson's forced family portraits, the common thread is the tension and sense of detachment between the characters within each painting. CB